All skin and no shame

...innocence is just an illusion...

Ok, I forgot to ask my friend for a title and my phone decided to turn off so MooTak will do for now OTL

She actually sent me this last week but i've been so fucking busy i've barely touched my personal laptop. I keep leaving it lying around. One of these days i'm gonna be like my mother but instead of misplacing an entire car, i'll misplace my laptop...which I haven't backed up...and all my fics...

WELL FUCK LET'S READ THIS DRABBLE AND NOT THINK ABOUT BAD THINGS OTL

It started slowly; the period of healing. All Mooseok had to do was give himself a chance.

They had started off as friends first. A listening ear in his darkest and loneliest moments. A shoulder to lean on, even the occasional tear- freed by the permission of soju. Warm on his breath, it unlocked his heart's cage - opening himself up again.

---

The wound split open and blood trickled out but Mooseok paid it no heed. Eyes closed as the sting of the alcohol licked over the cut. The court physician sighed as he attended carefully to him.

'I wish you would take more care.'

'It's okay. I get hurt all the time, Doctor.'

'No, it's.. it's not okay.'

---

Physician Kim stared at the man as he stood outside the door to his quarters. It was the dead of the night and new medical literature from China had kept him awake late. Fortunately. He was not sure he wanted to know what would happen to Mooseok if he had missed him.

The man was clutching the side of his sleeve, a dark red patch ominously spreading on his sleeve. His face was pale and a sheen of sweat covered it. Physician Kim rushed to the door and caught Mooseok as the man fell forward, weakened by his injury.

'Don't ask.' The man murmured, leaning into Physician Kim's embrace.

Physician Kim nodded, he was used to Kang Mooseok's many injuries and sealed lips. He knew the man was a royal guardsman but nothing more. He worked directly for the King but that position meant that Mooseok was kept isolated from the rest of the royal court. A top-secret position, where discretion kept you alive. He had come by Mooseok when the King had sent him to the man's quarters after a particularly bad incident. From what he saw, he figured Mooseok had been injured by a poisoned blade. But of course, he never found out.

Physician Kim recalled the night where he had stayed up, watching over Mooseok. Even though they had just met, the man's stoic expression throughout the pain he was suffering had tugged at Physician Kim's heart.

They had exchanged meaningful looks then; one of scepticism and curiosity; the other, of concern and sympathy.

It was enough.

---

Mooseok started coming over to visit. As Physician Kim had informed the Captain of the Guards, Mooseok was required to check in with him daily for a month to check up on his recovery.

They would sit and Mooseok would undress, so that Physician Kim could check on his wound. The first time Physician Kim had seen his patient topless, he had been shocked into silence.

Scars lay across Mooseok's torso and back like reeds in a swamp. Lacklustre medical care for his previous injuries had left welts forming instead of healing properly. But the man was muscled and sculpted well, thanks to his hours of training and swordsmanship. Mooseok was known as the King's guard and the best swordsman in Joseon. People crossed the king at their peril because of the might of Mooseok's sword. As such, the king valued him greatly and sent him on many mysterious errands, from which news of dead bodies would always follow. This only added to the intrigue and mystique surrounding Mooseok.

But Physician Kim was not cowed. He guessed he was probably the only one allowed to see Mooseok at his weakest - as he lay injured and near death. As the best court physician the King had, his life had been entrusted to Kim Kyungtak, the young medical prodigy and disciple of the previous royal physician, Park Junchun.

---

Mooseok remembered that night when Physician Kim had stayed by his side, attending to him. He had noticed the young man when he first came into his room- a quiet soul with strong eyes and a calm demeanour. It had immediately put him at ease. Physician Kim's gentle fingers worked at his clothes and then, tirelessly as he cleaned Mooseok up and concocted medicine to bind to his wound.

'Relax, sir.' Whispered the physician. Mooseok was tense from the pain and weakened by the injury. He needed the rest but could not close his eyes. And then the other started to sing, sing an old folk rhyme that Mooseok vaguely remembered hearing his own grandmother sing when he was a child.

Physician Kim's voice is beautiful.

For the first time since he got injured, Mooseok felt safe enough to want to sleep.

'Sleep, sir.' Whispered Physician Kim.

Maybe the spectre of death looming over his head had loosened Mooseok's tongue.

'Will you be here when I wake up?'

'Yes.'

---

'You look tired, Kyungtak ah.' Said Mooseok as he walked into Physician Kim's quarters. After several months, they had become close enough to be on first name terms.

'You notice such things but when it comes to yourself, you don't.' Physician Kim chided gently as he poured a cup of tea for the other.

'I don't have to because you notice them for me.' Mooseok took a sip of the tea with a grin.

Physician Kim found himself blushing a little at that, and his heart racing a bit more. He is surprised at himself but steels his expression so as not to give anything away.

'Yah, only because it's my job.'

The flash of hurt in Mooseok's eyes had disappeared in an instant but Physician Kim had noticed it. He wondered briefly if it was his imagination but the solemness in the once-light-hearted atmosphere underlines that something had changed.

---

'It's not okay, Mooseok. One day you're going to be too hurt.'

'Well, I have you to fix me.'

'What if I can't?'

'Then no one else will ever be able to anyway.'

The hand that lingered on top of the other as its owner spoke, was warm to the touch and tingled. Physician Kim was reluctant to move his hand but he did it anyway, confused by the mixture of emotions he was feeling.

---

The awkwardness had forced Physician Kim to start keeping his distance. He was very aware of the fact that he had an overactive imagination and that the consequences of acting on anything, could be very dire. He had no intention of hurting anyone, much less Mooseok.

Mooseok tried to visit him as usual but Physician Kim would find an excuse to shorten his visit or to tell him not to come. The hurt he felt was worse than any of the physical ones he had felt before. He was a stranger to feeling this way and did not like it at all.

Over the course of the year, Kyungtak had become firm friends with Mooseok. A solid mutual understanding despite their different personalities. An understanding that enabled Mooseok to gradually open up around Kyungtak to an extent he even let himself get drunk in front of him.

---

So as Physician Kim sat in front of him, eyes averted, sipping from his tea and looking like he would rather be anywhere else than here with Mooseok, Mooseok spoke up.

'Hey Kyungtak. Remember when you said I've to tell you when I'm in pain?'

'Yes?'

'I am. I'm in a lot of pain now, and only you can heal me.'

NN: "Nikki Note" as opposed to AN since A stands for Author and I didn't write this OTL... She found this hard to write but I found it easy to read and all those folds of clothes to get through just... AND TOPLESS MOOSEUK IS FUCKING REAL OK OK OK... OTL

yes. haha. i seem to get a lot of comments on the length. but drabbles are supposed to be... -not very long?- :o thank you for reading anyway ^^ and.... nicki..... by misplacing.. u mean your mother forgot where she parked it? lololol.

best regards to your frined and a lot of future inspiration. And this verse is really something I would wish to see more of. PS. The scene with topless Mooseok reminded me right away about SB Yunho.. As this was too short I am going to re-read SB (again) XD